Cyclists, Bike Makers Look Again At Impotency Theory

The notion that bicycling is linked to impotence has long been ridiculed. Now, new research is giving credence to the theory, even among once-ardent opponents in the cycling industry.

The biggest gathering of bicycle manufacturers in the country for the first time acknowledged the problem with a symposium last week, hosted by a noted urologist, called "Bicycle Riding: Good for Health, Bad for Sex, Fact or Fiction." In the next few days, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health is expected to publish research that found some erectile dysfunction among bicycle policemen. The health worries have even prompted a handful of manufacturers to develop newfangled bike seats aimed at solving the problem.

The concern that bike riding can increase a man's risk for erectile dysfunction is a controversial message that has long been rejected by the cycling community. Two years after Bicycling magazine first reported on the risk for impotence, the magazine followed up with an article claiming cyclists actually make better lovers.

But even bike enthusiasts now concede the sport can cause problems. Chris Love, the 43-year-old manager of Landry's Bicycles in Westboro, Mass., said he often experienced numbness after bike rides, and about five years ago began suffering from such significant erectile dysfunction he feared he wouldn't have children.

Scaling back his long rides didn't help. So he began using the Body Geometry bike seat, which has a triangle-shaped wedge cut out of the middle. After using the seat for three months, his problems abated.

Mr. Love, who now has a 16-month-old son, says customers come to his store every day complaining of problems. "You're in the middle of a ride and things go numb, it's very uncomfortable," he says.

The problem, which can also occur with stationary bikes, is one of simple physics. When a person sits down on a chair, body weight is distributed over a wide surface area that includes the buttocks and thighs. But when someone gets on a bicycle seat, the weight is distributed over a much smaller area, increasing the pressure on the crotch by five or six times. A typical bike seat directs all that pressure against the perineum, the part of the body that contains the nerves and arteries to the genitals. Women can also experience numbness and sexual dysfunction as a result.

One 41-year-old Atlanta veterinarian who had biked for three years suffered permanent damage to an artery after a 100-mile ride. He underwent surgery to regain sexual function. "I wanted to believe it was psychological because I enjoyed biking so much," he says.

It's unclear how widespread the problem really is. Irwin Goldstein, a professor of urology and gynecology at the Boston University School of Medicine and the sport's leading critic, says his research shows cyclists have four times the rate of impotence of track athletes. A 1997 Scandinavian study of cyclists taking part in a several-hundred-mile race found that 13 percent of riders had at least temporary impotence.

Urologists differ over whether biking is linked to impotence. Many doctors say the cardiovascular benefits of the sport likely would counteract any small additional risk for sexual problems.

But after a doctor noticed several Long Beach, Calif., bicycle policemen were complaining of numbness and erectile dysfunction, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, known as NIOSH, decided to study the matter. Researchers studied the quality and duration of night-time erections, a strong indicator of overall sexual health, among 17 bicycle policemen and five men who didn't ride bikes. The study, to be published this month in the Journal of Andrology, showed that the policemen had erections during 27 percent of their sleep cycle compared with 43 percent among nonpolicemen, says Steven M. Schrader, chief of the reproductive-health assessment section for NIOSH. In the study, 93 percent of the policemen said they experienced genital numbness.

The findings aren't conclusive because the study was small, and NIOSH is planning more research. The policemen also stay on their bike about six hours a day, so the results can't be applied to recreational bike use.

To address the problem, a handful of seat makers have introduced noseless split-seat bike saddles, which Goldstein says ease the pressure on the perineum and allow for normal blood flow to the genital area. But the odd-looking seats have been slow to catch on.

In addition to changing bicycle seats, Goldstein suggests limiting cycling to three hours a week or less, sitting upright to relieve pressure on the perineum, and getting up off the seat more often while riding.